Ghost: Pulse 3

This is the first beta released to the public en large.
Please report bugs in the comments only after reading about the known issues and so on.

When things happen, GP will tell you. Out of the box, GP can alert you when...

A spell/ability comes off cooldown.

A pet's spell/ability comes off cooldown.

A trinket, potion or other item comes off cooldown.

A buff is applied to you, or fades.

A debuff is applied to you, or fades.

You get low on health.

A group member dies, or is resurrected.

A target (or focus) enemy player or NPC casts a spell.

Various configuration options exist, such as switching individual features on and off, moving and sizing the frames, sounds to play when things happen and so on.

Type /gp or /pulse to configure. NOTE: GP3 will not upgrade your GP2 configuration. Sorry, but you'll have to reconfigure from scratch.

Installation

GP3 is distributed in one archive, but is actually two add-ons: One for the config/pulse engine, and the other is the basic alerts module. Be sure you unpack GP and install the folders contained inside appropriately.

Add-on Authors

GP3 is designed to allow you to integrate support for displaying your own custom pulses from within your own add-ons. Although it is certainly possible to do this with the first beta, I would advise against coding against this build since the primary function used to pulse things will be changing soon-ish. I will keep you updated and let you know when this 'API' is stable, as well as providing proper documentation on how to register your own categories and make calls to cause pulses to show.

Changes from Ghost: Pulse 2

Here is the list of things changed since GP2. It is not necessarily complete, but should give everyone a good idea about what to expect.

Display

- Button Facade support.
- Early warning mechanism has been re-designed so warnings can now be pulses as an option, while retaining MSBT and Blizzard FCT methods as options also.
- Use of the 3.1 animation system to reduce CPU usage when actually showing pulses. This has also enabled 'zoom in' and 'zoom out' animation options on a per-frame basis, as well as the usual 'fade' method.

Functionality

- Re-coded spell cooldowns system will correct track pet cooldowns even if they're not on your pet action bar.
- Re-coded bag item cooldowns system will correctly identify the item that was used and is now on cooldown (GP2 would get this right only occasionally). Items such as Mana Gems and so on will now work quite happily as expected.
- Many alerts in GP2 that didn't offer early warnings now do.

Technical

- GREATLY reduced memory and CPU utilisation. Very much improved over GP2. Minimal CPU usage while pulses are 'pending', with almost zero usage while completely idle.
- Extensible API for other authors to add GP support to their own addons. This will allow other authors to provide the Riposte/Overpower etc support that I am personally unable to do well since I don't have a character with those abilities and hence can't provide any sort of guarantees on.
- Re-coded to move away from Ace-2 to reduce the 'bulkiness' of the distribution. GP is also now shipped as two addons (pulse engine and configuration UI in one, basic alerts in another).
- Use of the standard Blizzard Add-on configuration interface.

Not Yet Implemented Features (will be done ASAP)

- LibSharedMedia support for sounds. Can still be configured to play sound files, but you must know and specify the full 'path' to the sound you want to play.
- Control over the duration and alpha level of the pulses.
- Profile switching. Currently, GP3 internally supports and implements profiles but access to them is not yet implemented in the UI. You have one default profile for the time being. Button Facade settings are on a per-profile basis however, ready for when the UI is opened up to support profiles.

Known Issues

- Sounds configured for alerts are not saving/loading properly in all cases.
- Removing a frame does not remove the ability to try to edit that frame's details, resulting in Lua errors if you try to do so. Reloading the UI after removing a frame, however, prevents access to that now-extinct frame's editor.

Removed Features

I know people hate it when their favorite obscure feature gets removed, but in the interests of a more streamlined and lightweight addon, some things have had to go. Feel free to ask if they can make a comeback though. I may do it, I may say "that's for another addon author to do" or I may just say "no wai!". You can always ask. :P

- Specifics. With this feature, you could tell GP2 to alert only when debuffs reached a certain stack count for example, or to override the sound used for a particular item. I am unsure if/when/how I'll redo this for a future GP3 release.
- Several alerts will not ship with GP3 by default, instead being deferred to enterprising addon authors to implement. These include optimal Life Tap and Mana Potion usage for example.
- Black/whitelists on a per alert basis. Currently, GP3 supports filtering at the frame level only, as this is simpler for most people. If demand exists, I may re-implement alert-level filtering again.

3.0 beta 13: 2009-10-06
- Last tweaking for the 'sticky' icons problem. When starting up, GP3 will now pulse all your frames to initialize them - this is by design. They should no longer do an initialization pulse once or twice after log in.
- Added the ability to filter by stack count. When adding to a filter, you may use =, < and > with a number to filter by stack count. For example, "Lifebloom>1" (no quotes) in a whitelist will show Lifebloom only when it hits two or three stacks. For now, don't use spaces between the name and the comparison operator or the number. As another example, "Impale<2" (again, no quotes) in a blacklist will not show Impale if it's only stacked once.

3.0 beta 12: 2009-10-03
- Fixed a bug when refreshing buffs/debuffs that were already present.
- Hopefully fixed the problem where the empty pulses appear at startup and remain visible until something happens. Let me know if it's still persisting for anyone.

3.0 beta 11: 2009-08-10
- Further tweaking to remedy the empty pulse problem. Working around a new weird little bug in BF or WoW itself (still haven't figured out which).

3.0 beta 9: 2009-08-07
- Updated ToC for 3.2.
- Fixed a Button Facade problem in GP that resulted from the 3.2 BF update (my issue - shouldn't have been doing it the way I was).

3.0 beta 8: 2009-08-02
- The frame filters now support buffs and debuffs specified by the spell ID that is reported in the combat log, to differentiate between buffs/debuffs that have the same names as each other.

3.0 beta 6: 2009-07-26
- Added support for Blizzard FCT. If an early warning method is set to 'Both' or 'Text' (was 'MSBT'), then early warnings will be issued using MSBT if it's installed and enabled, otherwise they will be issued via Blizzard's FCT (if it is enabled in the Blizzard Interface options).
- Added global options for controlling whether you see alerts when in arenas, battlegrounds and the world in general.

3.0 beta 4: 2009-07-22
- Fixed the problem with Mind Blast and Lava Burst. The problem turned out to be that any spell with both a cast time and a cooldown wouldn't work. Only instants with a cooldown. This is now fixed.

3.0 beta 3: 2009-07-16
- Fixed the mage Water Elemental spell cooldowns. Going to look at a proper implementation so it works for vehicles also, but this build was to get the mages sorted first.

3.0 beta 2: 2009-07-13
- Fixed the wording for early warning text in MSBT mode.
- MSBT mode early warning should now pulse the correct sound (well, it will when I get the sound options loading/saving problem fixed).
- Added 'Show Text' as a per-alert configuration option.
- [Hopefully] fixed a problem with Buffs/Debuffs not alerting under certain conditions.
- Filter add/remove dialog boxes will now clear their previous text when adding/removing more than one item in a single session.

3.0 beta 13: 2009-10-06
- Last tweaking for the 'sticky' icons problem. When starting up, GP3 will now pulse all your frames to initialize them - this is by design. They should no longer do an initialization pulse once or twice after log in.
- Added the ability to filter by stack count. When adding to a filter, you may use =, < and > with a number to filter by stack count. For example, "Lifebloom>1" (no quotes) in a whitelist will show Lifebloom only when it hits two or three stacks. For now, don't use spaces between the name and the comparison operator or the number. As another example, "Impale<2" (again, no quotes) in a blacklist will not show Impale if it's only stacked once.

3.0 beta 12: 2009-10-03
- Fixed a bug when refreshing buffs/debuffs that were already present.
- Hopefully fixed the problem where the empty pulses appear at startup and remain visible until something happens. Let me know if it's still persisting for anyone.

3.0 beta 11: 2009-08-10
- Further tweaking to remedy the empty pulse problem. Working around a new weird little bug in BF or WoW itself (still haven't figured out which).

3.0 beta 9: 2009-08-07
- Updated ToC for 3.2.
- Fixed a Button Facade problem in GP that resulted from the 3.2 BF update (my issue - shouldn't have been doing it the way I was).

3.0 beta 8: 2009-08-02
- The frame filters now support buffs and debuffs specified by the spell ID that is reported in the combat log, to differentiate between buffs/debuffs that have the same names as each other.

3.0 beta 6: 2009-07-26
- Added support for Blizzard FCT. If an early warning method is set to 'Both' or 'Text' (was 'MSBT'), then early warnings will be issued using MSBT if it's installed and enabled, otherwise they will be issued via Blizzard's FCT (if it is enabled in the Blizzard Interface options).
- Added global options for controlling whether you see alerts when in arenas, battlegrounds and the world in general.

3.0 beta 4: 2009-07-22
- Fixed the problem with Mind Blast and Lava Burst. The problem turned out to be that any spell with both a cast time and a cooldown wouldn't work. Only instants with a cooldown. This is now fixed.

3.0 beta 3: 2009-07-16
- Fixed the mage Water Elemental spell cooldowns. Going to look at a proper implementation so it works for vehicles also, but this build was to get the mages sorted first. :)

3.0 beta 2: 2009-07-13
- Fixed the wording for early warning text in MSBT mode.
- MSBT mode early warning should now pulse the correct sound (well, it will when I get the sound options loading/saving problem fixed).
- Added 'Show Text' as a per-alert configuration option.
- [Hopefully] fixed a problem with Buffs/Debuffs not alerting under certain conditions.
- Filter add/remove dialog boxes will now clear their previous text when adding/removing more than one item in a single session.

hi again guys i got rly good help on this forum but i still need some help on trinket cooldown, and wondering if this addon can do so the icon on "chans on hit" can be showed, so the "chans on hit buff" icon pops up when the players gets it?

Originally posted by Footrot Trinkets and other 'On Use' items (like the Engineering tinkers) only work when activated directly from your action bar or inventory screen, or when used in a macro like this...

/use 13
/use 14

... If, in your macro, you say...

/use Wrathstone

... it won't show up, because the API being used to detect these activations don't reveal these things when used by their name. Start by telling me how you're trying to activate your trinkets.

ok well i have my trinket bind to buttom "z" and its on my actionbar were the buttom "7" used to be, and btw thx for all the help my addon is rly great now when i know how to use it better =)

Originally posted by poledaddy well i try that =(
i´ve write both just "stormstrike" and "/use stormstrike" in the "add...." bar on both blacklist and whitelist(ofc have i remove them when i discoverd that they still came up) they still coming up =/

Did you try typing Stormstrike with the correct uppercase and lowercase characters?

Originally posted by Footrot Set the filter type for your frame to Blacklist, then 'Add...' the ones you don't want to see.

well i try that =(
i´ve write both just "stormstrike" and "/use stormstrike" in the "add...." bar on both blacklist and whitelist(ofc have i remove them when i discoverd that they still came up) they still coming up =/

Originally posted by Footrot Well, I'm using the PlaySoundFile API call. I'll be updating shortly to force the path of sound files to make it easier to ensure it's pointing to the right file. See what happens then.

Originally posted by volatile0773 A thought just occured to me. This Picard sound file i used works consistently with power auras. So the assumption that wow just doesn't like some wavs doesn't really fit here. Any other thoughts on how I might get this to work? Or should I just find myself a new wav and be happy? lol

(and to the guy who said I need a life because of the sound file...really? I enjoy a tv show...we both play a game that takes much more time than that...not a very solid insult mate)

Well, I'm using the PlaySoundFile API call. I'll be updating shortly to force the path of sound files to make it easier to ensure it's pointing to the right file. See what happens then.

Originally posted by Footrot Just saying that asking about something doesn't mean it'll happen, or you have a right to that, even if it's intended that a feature will go ahead or a bug will be fixed. Asking for something doesn't mean I'll find time to do it, so don't get all "entitled" when something 'free' doesn't happen for you.

WowInterface.com is a place where authors share their creations, free of charge (or ask for donations, but don't require them). It's not a development shop where players call the shots. So if I'm busy earning a living, or heaven-forbid playing the game for fun myself, and don't get time to update an addon, you'll live.

EDIT: A bit of research has shown that WoW won't play just any WAV file. If the file doesn't play in GP3, then it's because WoW doesn't like it. The current build works fine for custom sounds, just check a few posts below - you'll find someone who has it working, for WAV files that WoW likes at least.

A thought just occured to me. This Picard sound file i used works consistently with power auras. So the assumption that wow just doesn't like some wavs doesn't really fit here. Any other thoughts on how I might get this to work? Or should I just find myself a new wav and be happy? lol

(and to the guy who said I need a life because of the sound file...really? I enjoy a tv show...we both play a game that takes much more time than that...not a very solid insult mate)

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